Jefferson Community Center (3801 Beacon Ave. S.) is also hosting a Fall Festival and Haunted House for kids 11 and under (the haunted house is for older kids, per parents’ judgment). There will be games for 25 cents each or 5/$1, and the haunted house admission is $1.

For both festivals, kids should dress in their best costumes, and bring a bag to collect treats and prizes.

Beacon Lutheran Church under construction in 1947. Photo courtesy of Beacon Lutheran Church archives via John Graham.The 70-year-old Beacon Lutheran Church (1720 S. Forest St.) will close at the end of this month, with a final worship service and farewell dinner planned for Sunday, October 30. Community members are invited to the closing events.

The church was founded in 1941 by members of Hope Lutheran Church in West Seattle. For the first few years, the group met at the Garden House on 15th Avenue South, then moved into their current building on South Forest Street in 1948.

Membership numbers have been gradually declining since the early 1970s, and so in March of this year, the congregation voted to disband, as the smaller membership could no longer keep the church functioning.

Ownership of the building and its contents will be transferred to the Northwest District of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. The Rainier Valley Cooperative Preschool, which currently rents space in the building, will continue to rent there through at least the end of this school year. Long-term plans for the site are unknown.

John Graham sent us this invitation to the community:

You, our Beacon Hill neighbors, are all invited to the closing service and farewell dinner for Beacon Lutheran Church on Sunday, October 30th, 2011. Worship will begin at 10:00 am for the event. Afterwards, about noon-ish, we’ll gather for a potluck dinner and brief program to celebrate 70 years of God’s blessings to our congregation. There will also be photographs on display and hopefully, we can get a reminiscence or two out of our older members. Please come and share in one or both parts of the event. For more info, you can e-mail me at hamburgerclan@yahoo.com.

On behalf of the congregation, I’d like to thank you all for letting us be a part of the community on Beacon Hill. God’s richest blessings to you all in the years to come.

Peace,
John Graham

Here are some photos from the 70-year history of Beacon Lutheran Church.

Music during a worship service at Beacon Lutheran in about 1970. Photo courtesy of Beacon Lutheran Church archives via John Graham. Beacon Lutheran Church's first confirmation class at the Garden Club House, 1942. Photo courtesy of Beacon Lutheran Church archives via John Graham.Sunday School, January 2011. Photo courtesy of Beacon Lutheran Church archives via John Graham.

Having fun at a Beacon Lutheran Church picnic. Photo by Yuek Hahn.Neighbors enjoying the Seattle Night Out on Tuesday night. Photo by Bridget Christian.Toddler and dog at Seattle Night Out. Photo by Bridget Christian.

Signs in the window of Sharon's Lutong Bahay, a Filipino restaurant just south of Beacon and Stevens, say that the restaurant's Grand Opening is this Friday, June 25. Photo by Wendi.Jerry Large of the Seattle Times (BHB news partners) featured Jeane Cook and Kim Nakamura in his column yesterday. Cook and Nakamura, who are both in their 90s, were honored by Beacon Hill International School (formerly Beacon Hill Elementary) for nearly 30 years of volunteer work at the school. Large also mentions that the BHIS Golden Acorn award for volunteers this year went to Pat Dederer, who has been helping at BHIS for 20 years. We here at the BHB would also like to express our gratitude to Cook, Nakamura, and Dederer for their service and contributions to the lives of Beacon Hill kids over the decades.

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You may have noticed some work near Jose Rizal Bridge this week. The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) is installing curb ramps in the intersection of 12th Avenue South and South Charles Street at the north end of the bridge. Crews plan to work until Thursday, from 7 am to 2:30 pm each day. They will close the western and then the eastern sidewalk and parking strip, one at a time, to complete the work.

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Speaking of construction work, work on the Chief Sealth Trail Extension project will probably start in late August. The project will take about three months. Afterward, the trail will extend northwestward from Beacon Avenue South northwest to South Angeline/15th Avenue South.

SDOT has completed its environmental review of the project per the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) and determined that there will be no significant adverse environmental impacts as a result of the project. To see the DNS and other environmental documents as well as a map of the project, see the project web site.

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Verity Credit Union is hosting a community shred-a-thon on Saturday from 10:00 am – 2:00 pm. At this event, community members who don’t have their own shredders can have the security of shredding their sensitive documents. There is a suggested minimum donation of $10 which will be donated directly to the Beacon Hill Food Bank. Verity is located at 1660 South Columbian Way, Building 35.

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Helping Link, or Một Dấu Nối, is a non-profit group that provides tutoring, citizenship and English classes, and social services to the local Vietnamese community. They are having their annual fundraiser, the Seattle International Fashion Gala, this Saturday, June 26, at O’Asian Kitchen Restaurant. There will be an array of modern and traditional gowns premiered by fashion designers, Oscar Milano Mai and Chi Duyen, along with Asian cuisine.
Proceeds of ticket purchases will go towards the support of Helping Link’s community strengthening programs for Vietnamese refugees and immigrants. More information can be found on the website.

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The Bar del Corso pizzeria folks are holding a fundraiser on Sunday from 3:00 to 6:00 pm to help raise funds for the restaurant they plan to open on North Beacon Hill early next year. They say, “Jerry will be firing up the brick oven in our backyard garden, and making pizzas. With fava beans and garlic in season, we will be making some special pizzas with these ingredients, along with other classics.” The suggested donation is $100, but “the donation amount is suggested—pay what you can.” RSVP is required to info@bardelcorso.com (with RSVP in the subject line). They will send you a confirmation email with the details and the address of the party.

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Beacon Lutheran Church will be holding a Bible and Chinese Camp for children from ages 4 through 12 this summer, August 16-20. The program will run from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm and will provide Bible lessons, singing, crafts, and games, as well as Chinese language and culture lessons. Snacks will be provided morning and afternoon, but each child should bring a sack lunch. For more information or to register, call Father Philip Wong, 253-277-1831 (in Chinese or English), or Eunice Graham, 206-323-0226 (English only).

Fireworks set off on Beacon Hill (and -- look close -- West Seattle) on July 4, 2007. Photo by Wendi. In the Beacon Hill Blog forum right now is a question from reader alirjd:

“So this will be my first 4th of July on Beacon Hill. I know fireworks are limited this year in Seattle since Ivar’s cancelled their show, but I wondered if any of the longtime residents knew of a good spot to go sit somewhere up here and see if you can catch some of the shows around town.”